


Meridianam

by WrittenInCinnamon



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Depression, Family Feels, Feels, Fluff, Gen, Talking To Dead People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22970623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenInCinnamon/pseuds/WrittenInCinnamon
Summary: Romano hated being alone.Ancient Rome felt he has to talk to him.
Relationships: Rome & South Italy (Hetalia)
Kudos: 19





	Meridianam

Romano was alone that evening.

His younger brother, Veneziono, went to that potato-eating bastard, doing God knows what. The young lady Malta wasn't visiting much anyway, unless someone invited her. She claimed she 'didn't feel right on the mainland'. Even that brat Seborga went off to a 'Micronation Meeting', read: sleepover Wy organized.

Normally in this situation, he would call Spain to come over or visit him or even just videochat with him, but he was on a meeting with his prime minister, his king and all of parliament really. Probably pretty important country-wide stuff.

_Why did he almost never attend stuff like that?_

Romano hated being alone.

It let his mind wander and he prefered the down-to-earth business. No matter if it would be washing the dishes, watching the football league, having a casual chat with Veneziano or arguing with boss about problems with tourists. Just something real to focus on.

...

He decided to go do the dishes.

Take a dirty plate.

Turn the water on.

Add soap.

Rinse.

Put it on the dryer.

Repeat.

And repeat.

And repeat, and repeat, _and repeat and repeat you can't be lazy, your brother is working so hard in the government, it's the least you can do for him-_

He ran out of dirty dishes.

He chuckled to himself, just imagining his younger self's disbelief that he would ever feel disappointed by having no chores to do.

Spain probably wouldn't have believed either, but would smile and be happy that his little territory finally wanted to work. He probably wouldn't have believed easily nowadays either. Romano and Spain were best friends, but that didn't mean they had to tell eachother everything.

_Spain has enough to worry about on his own._

Romano had enough of worrying others.

He had worried grandpa Rome when he hadn't been as talented as Veneziano. He had worried Spain when he had been constantly a brat and had ran off like an idiot. He now worried his brother when he felt down and didn't smile no matter what.

_Just bringing everyone down._

_He never knew waht grandpa Rome really thought of him, but he for sure was right. And Romano thought Rome thought he's useless. The worse Italy. The second Italy. His brother made art and was outgoing and he just stayed to farm because that's the single task he couldn't fuck up, but he would fuck up everything else, just one giant mistake-_

"Italia." he heard a voice he could not ever mistake but didn't hear for far too long.

Romano opened the eyes he had not realised he had closed.

Before him stood the Roman Empire. The tall, muscular man, as real as he remembered. _You're hallucinating, grandpa is_ dead. _And why would he visit_ you _from beyond the grave?_

"Italia, glad to see you survived all these ages." he spoke again. It felt so real.

"G-grandpa Rome?" Romano stuttered out.

"Yeah!" the ancient Nation exclaimed. "Figured you'd need this."

"Wha- Need what?" the modern Nation asked unsurely.

To that, Rome simply walked up and hugged his descendant.

"Italia. You are not worse than your brother. You're equals. Two parts of a whole." he said, warmer and softer than he'd ever heard him.

"But... Veneziano is so talented and I-" the southern Nation tried, but was cut off.

"Yes, Veneziano is very talented and outgoing But he's also a scaredy-pants. Yes, you have short temper, but you're hard-working and stubborn to defend your pride, which is often a good thing." he explained, now looking the younger Nation in the eyes.

_He just feels pity, you're still worthle--_

South Italy cleared his mind and just tried to believe. Tears fell down his cheeks in melancholy.

His grandpa just said he is good. Yes, yes, he's good.

"See, that's the spirit!" he exclaimed joyfully. "And you can talk to your brother if you ever feel you don't agree with him when it comes to country-wide politics stuff. You're a democracy, aren't you?" the ancient Nation added.

South Italy simply nodded and hugged his grandpa silently. He liked this contact. It felt safe.

Rome ruffled his hair.

"I know things won't be magically easier now, but just remember, I'm watching from up there and I root with all my might for you to get better. And I _will_ be by your and Vene's side. Alright, Meridianam?" he said as he pulled away.

"B-but... what am I supposed to do?" asked Romano frantically.

"Hey, I'm not a fortune-teller. Even dead people don't know that stuff. If we did, someone for sure would've came down and told Germany to kill we all know which one of his bosses before WW2 started." the man said casually.

The modern Nation just looked at his feet.

"Hey, come on, cheer up! You will be fine, you just gotta talk with other people more. Honestly, people these days are either uncomunicative or too comunicative..." he trailed off. "But yeah, you have your brother and that guy Spain is your friend from what I've seen. You can talk to them if you feel down."

South Italy nodded. Yeah, maybe he should talk about these things.

_You will worry them needlessly-_

But they deserve to know what's going on, don't they?

"Grandpa Rome?" he inquiered, but he was gone.

_It wasn't real._

No. No matter if it was real, Rome was likely right. He should tell how he feels. Maybe it will help.

_Maybe._

\---

"Hey, Romano, I'm home!" exclaimed North Italy around 1pm the following day.

"Hey, Vene!" South Italy said back with a rare happy voice. "How was your visit to Germany?" 

"Oh, you know, the usual - fun." the younger brother waved his hand in dismissal, still sprouting a genuine smile. "How were you?"

 _Maybe you shouldn't, you will ruin his mood, you'll be worse than_ Germany-

"Fine I suppose..." he started and hesitated for just a second. But he spoke anyway. "Grandpa Rome visited me at night."

"Wow, really?" Veneziano exclaimed enthusiastically. "I thought he can only come when there's a serious reason to do so..." he added, now less energitically.

"Yeah, about that..." Romano trailed off. "Brother, can we talk?"

"Of course, Roma! What about?"

\---

"Didn't know you have speech skills." Germania said while looking at the slightly happier Romano.

"Please," Athens giggled. "I could give a thousand times better speech on the fly."

"Athens, noone cares for your long poems. I could shorten them into few sentences and carry the message across." Sparta grunted.

"Guess war never ended for you two, huh?" Germania bit in.

"Guys, could you all shut up for five seconds?" Rome barked out.

"Could you sometimes?" Sparta countered.

"Could you now?" Rome pressed on. "I'm watching my grandchildren over here." 

"You really care about them, huh?" Germania said softly.

"Of course. Don't you?" replied Rome, observing as the two hug eachother back in the Living World.

"Yeah. Fair point." Germania replied. "Wish I was as good as you in showing that."

"Of course you wish to be as good as me!" the mediterranian Nation boasted as per usual. " But it's nit that hard." he replied in a softer manner. "Just let them know you're there."

\---

Romano hated being alone.

But he felt he wasn't alone, even if physically he was.

**Author's Note:**

> Meridianam means south in latin.
> 
> So the thing that Romano feels very underappreciated is my headcanon and probably many people's as well. Of course, the end of this fic isn't meant to suggest he stopped feeling depressed or anything. It's not that easy. But it helped him. :)


End file.
